Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

February 3, 2012

Tofu and soy products in general gross a lot of people out. Even when I was a vegetarian I didn’t really eat a lot of tofu. But, that period in my life was ages ago.

Now the vegetarian options seem to be more flavorful and less outlandish looking. Often times I feel like the makers of these vegetarian products are trying to make things look appealing to non-vegetarians. Because most devout vegetarians will eat this stuff regardless of its appearance and honestly do not want to eat something that reminds them of an animal product.

As a part of my “year of no resolutions” and “being the best me I can be” I have decided to take meat out of the equation at least once a week and substitute with either more vegetables or a protein rich vegetarian substitute.

Daring move, right? I promise there is enough flavor and protein in this dish that by the time you finish you won’t even be thinking about all the greasy animal goodness.

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

1 Shallot, finely minced

1 Garlic Clove, grated

12oz. Soy Chorizo (I love the soyrizo from Trader Joe’s)

1, 15oz. Can of Black Beans, drained and rinsed

1 Box of Whole Grain Spanish Brown Rice

½ Teaspoon of Salt

¼ Teaspoon of Pepper

¼ Teaspoon of Crushed Red Pepper

½ Teaspoon of Ground Cumin

½ Cup Salsa (not chunky) or Taco Sauce

6 Bell Peppers (I prefer red, yellow, or orange)

2 Cups of Vegetable Stock

¾ Cup of Shredded Cheddar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Add the olive oil to a pan and heat over medium/low for about a minute. Add the shallots, sauté for two minutes, and then add in the garlic and sauté an additional two minutes.

Turn the heat to medium and add the soyrizo to the pan. Break the soyrizo apart using a rubber spatula. Sauté for five minutes, until the soyrizo gets darker in color.

Add the drained black beans, salsa, and whole grain rice to the soyrizo. Season with the seasoning packet from the box of rice, the salt, pepper, red pepper, and cumin. Mix well. Knock the heat back to medium/low, cover the pan, and cook for fifteen minutes.

After fifteen minutes, let the mixture cool slightly while you cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds.

Stuff the peppers with the soyrizo, bean, and rice mixture. (Yes, that is my ghostly pale hand in the picture.)

Place the peppers into a Pyrex dish/oven-safe casserole dish. Pour the vegetable stock over the peppers. Bake the peppers for thirty minutes.

After thirty minutes, remove the peppers from the oven, top with cheese, and then return to the oven for another five minutes until the cheese melts.

Somewhere in the city of Chicago you can hear a man crying out in anguish.

That man is my husband, and even though he is far away he gets a strange feeling he might not like what I have in store for him when he gets home tonight!

Comments

yum! I was just trying to find a vegetarian stuffed pepper recipe, I don’t a lot of red meat and I’ve been craving a stuffed pepper…delicious recipe! Tofu gets a bad rap but in the right recipe its perfect!